Tumbler lock



May 16, 1939. GUTMAN 2,158,501

LER L CK Filed Aug. 3, 1938 VEN TOR.

u T AMI/V 4:4 ATTORNEY Patented May 16, 1939 iJNi'iED fiTATll-S PATENT OFFICE TUMIBLER LOCK Application August 3, 1938, Serial No. 222,905

16 Claims. (01. 70-364) This invention relates to tumbler looks; more particularly, to pin tumbler locks and the construction thereof, to prevent surreptitious opening, decoding, picking, vibrating and other known 5 means for improperly operating the look.

Various expedients are known to me wherein the simple type of pin tumbler lock may be decoded or picked by a selective picking device, with which the breaking point between the driver por- 10 tion of the tumbler and the follower portion of the tumbler is determined. In this way, the code of the key may be determined for operating the cylindrical plug of this type of lock.

Other expedients known to me may include a 15 vibrating type of contrivance in which, in a similar way, the breaking point between the driver portion of the tumbler and the follower is established, for rotation of the cylindrical plug of this type of lock. All of these devices, as

20 known to me, depend upon the feel of the one operating these contrivances, to determine when the breaking point has been established, by the slight movement which is permitted by the clearance between the tumbler pins in their respec- 25 tive bores, either in the plug or in the cylinder portion of the lock.

Accordingly, it is an object of my invention so to construct the pin portions of a pin tumbler lock to minimize the utilization of the breaking point within the limits of clearance of the pins within their respective bores, either for decoding or surreptitiously picking this type of look.

It is known to me to provide shoulders or heads for the pins, to prevent the driving pin or fol- 5 lower from being located at the breaking point between the plug and the cylinder, but where either the driver pin or follower or both of the tumbler portions are provided with these cut outs or shoulders, rigidly united to each other, there 40 is not sufiicient canting or tilting of the driver pin or follower to make these shoulders effective against establishing of the breaking point or alignment of the driver pin and follower in their respective bores adjacent the breaking point.

45 Accordingly, it is a further object of my invention to provide in a lock of the character described, and in which a plug portion and cylinder portion have respective bores in alignment in which driver pins and follower pins may be 50 cated, a compartment in which one or more or all of the driver pins and followers are so constructed deceptively to indicate the breaking point between the plug and the cylinder, and to so construct the associated parts comprising the plug,

5 the cylinder and the pins, to efiiciently, deceptively indicate the breaking point, without a material or extensive reconstruction of the basic design of this type of look.

It is further contemplated by my invention so to construct one or more or all of the driver pins, 5 or follower pins, or both, of a pin tumbler type of look so that their movement in respect to their respective bores may be to prevent completely aligning them to the true breaking point of the plug by any of the now well known means for 10 picking or decoding this type of lock, and to accomplish this in an economical and eflicient manner, without completely altering or redesigning this type of lock construction.

To attain these objects and such further objects as may appear herein or be hereinafter pointed out, I make reference to the accompanying drawing; forming a part hereof, in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through a pin tumbler lock illustrating my invention;

Figure 2 is a corresponding View with the proper key inserted in the plug;

Figure 3 is a transverse section of the cylinder and plug showing the plug slightly tensioned, with a follower pin above the breaking point;

Figure'4 is a transverse section of the cylinder and plug, showing the plug slightly tensioned, with a driver pin below the breaking point;

Figure 5 is a perspective View of the driver pin and follower pin assembly.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, I have shown at ID the cylinder or casing of a pin tumbler lock of customary cylindrical configuration and provided with a bore l2 adapted to receive the cylindrical plug M. A keyway l6 extends longitudinally through the plug I4 into which a key l8 may be inserted.

The cylinder I0 is shown as provided with transverse bores 20 and the plug with transverse bores 22, and these are arranged so that when the plug is turned into the proper position each bore 20 will register and align with a bore 22. Each pair of bores so aligned constitutes a tumbler bore, and is adapted to receive slidably there- 5 within an assembly of parts shown in Figure 5 that constitute a pin tumbler. It will be observed that the bores 22 extendinto the keyway l6, wherebythe pin tumblers are permitted to enter the keyway and engage the key.

Means are shown to urge the pin tumblers toward the keyway. Such means may be in the form of a coil spring 44.

Each tumbler pin is constituted by an assembly of parts arranged in two sets, one constituting the driver or driving pin, and the other the follower or following pin, and the breaking point is constituted by the contacting surfaces of the two sets. That is to say when the contacting surfaces of the driving pin and the following pin lie in the surface of the plug, the latter may be rotated, carrying with it the follower, and by continuing the rotation of the plug the lock may be moved to its open position.

By referring to Figure 5 it will be observed that the driving pin is shown as constituted by a member 24 having a bore 26 therein and a mushroom shaped member 28 having a head 30 and a stem 32 adapted to freely fit into the bore 26 so as to permit relative lateral movement of these parts.

The follower pin is shown as constituted by a member 34 provided with a nose portion 35 adapted to engage the notches in the keys, and with a bore 36 adapted to freely receive therewithin the stem 42 of a mushroom shaped pin 38 provided with a head 40.

The depth of the bores 26 and 36 in relation to the stems 32 and 42 respectively is to allow a clearance of small amount indicated at 32a and 42a respectively by making either the stems 32 and 42 shorter .or the bores 26 and 36 deeper, a clearance of about .005 inch having been found to be sufficient, though greater clearance may be employed, this clearance permits canting of the parts without binding.

The intended operation of the lock will be readily understood from Figures 1 and 2.

In Figure l the pin tumblers are in their lowermost positions, being forced thereinto by the action of springs 44. Since the breaking points are not in the required position, the casing and the cylinders are locked against rotation.

In Figure 2 the key I8 has been inserted into the keyway l6 and the contours of the key have raised the pin tumblers into such a position that their breaking points are in alignment, so that the cylinder may now be rotated and the lock opens.

The unauthorized operation of the lock will now be explained with the aid of Figures 3 and 4. In these figures the plug is slightly tensioned, as customary in the operation of picking locks, and at the same time the pin tumbler has been manipulated to raise it. Due to the tensioning however, rotation of the plug has occurred and the pin tumbler is shown as deceptively broken between the mushroom pin 38 and the member 34 (Figure 3). The breaking and opening of the lock is prevented by the stem of the pin 38, but the lock picker is unable to tell that the break is only deceptive and at the same time is unable to further move the pin tumbler which is locked by the engagement of the shoulders on the head of the pin 38 and the end of follower member 34 with the surfaces of the plug and the cylinder.

Another position in which a deceptive break occurs is shown in Figure 4. In this case the mushroom pin 28 of the driver has moved laterally in relation to the driver member 24. The effect is the same as that just described in relation to Figure 3.

The superiority of my construction in which the mushroom pins are entirely separate from the drivers and followers and are freely movable laterally, without tilting, over constructions in which the mushroom pin is integral with the driver or follower and cannot effect its action without tilting, will at once be apparent to persons skilled in the art.

While I have disclosed both the driver and the follower pins as provided with separate mushroom pins, it will be evident that for certain purposes it will suffice to use this construction for only one of the pins, that is, either for the driver pin or for the follower pin.

It can be readily understood that since for each pin tumbler to be manipulated the chances of finding the true breaking point are greatly reduced, and the same handicap must be overcome for each pin tumbler, that the difficulties of picking a lock constructed according to my invention are enormously increased if they are not insurmountable.

For convenience of reference, where such terminology is employed in the claims, it will be noted that where I have referred to a set of pins made of individual members, this is intended to denote the set constituting pins which may ride within an orifice of the casing and extend into the complemental orifice of the plug; the individual members of said sets is intended to refer to pins arranged to be stacked to be able to be located in alignment with the line of parting between the casing and the plug; the elements of said member is intended to denote such parts as the elements 24 and 28, respectively, or the members 34 and 38, respectively.

Thus, it will be seen that each orifice extending from the casing and into the plug, when aligned, is made of a set of members, and a member of such set may be made of separate elements.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A pin tumbler lock having a stationary part and a movable part, both said parts being provided with tumbler bores capable of being aligned, a pin tumbler comprising a driver section and a follower section in each of said alignable tumbler bores, and the driver section comprising an end member adapted to engage the follower section and having a head and a shank, and a driver member provided with a recess of greater width than the thickness of the shank adapted to receive said shank, whereby said end member is adapted for limited lateral movement without tilting in relation to said driver member.

2. A pin tumbler lock having a stationary part and a movable part, both said parts being provided with tumbler bores capable of being aligned, a pin tumbler comprising a driver section and a follower section in each of said alignable tumbler bores, and the follower section comprising an end member adapted to engage the driver section and having a head and a shank, and a keycontacting follower member provided with a recess adapted to loosely receive said shank, whereby said end member is adapted for limited lateral movement without tilting in relation to said follower member.

3. A pin tumbler lock having a stationary part and a movable part, both said parts being provided with tumbler bores capable of being aligned, a pin tumbler comprising a driver section and a follower section in each of said alignable tumbler bores, and each of said sections comprising an end member provided with a head and a shank, and its head adapted to contact the head of the other member, and each of said sections further comprising a hollow member adapted to freely receive the shank of its end member so as to permit limited lateral movement of said end memher without tilting relatively to said hollow memher.

4. A pin tumbler lock having a stationary part and a movable part, both said. parts being provided with tumbler bores capable of being aligned, a pin tumbler comprising a driver section and a follower section in each of said alignable tumbler bores, and at least one of said sections having an end member adapted to contact the end of the other section and said end member having interconnecting intermediate means therebetween formed on one of said end members, and said section respectively and being displaceable laterally without tilting relatively to the adjacent member of its section, but being held against lateral separation therefrom by said interconnecting intermediate means formed in said end members and said section.

5. A pin tumbler lock having a stationary part and a movable part, both said parts being provided with tumbler bores capable of being aligned, a pin tumbler comprising a driver section and a follower section in each of said alignable tumbler bores, and each of said sections being provided with an end member adapted to engage the end member of the other section, said end member being of mushroom form with a head and a shank, and the upper and lower surfaces of the head forming shoulders adapted to engage the surface of separation between'the stationary part and the movable part so as to lock it against movement in its tumbler bore, and the shank being adapted for reception in a bore provided in the adjacent member of the section, said bore being of greater diameter than the shank so as to permit lateral movement of the end member without tilting relatively to said adjacent memher.

6. A pin tumbler lock having a stationary part and a movable part, both said parts being provided with tumbler bores capable of being aligned, a pin tumbler comprising a driver section and a follower section in each of said alignable tumbler bores, and each of said sections being of a diameter to fill the tumbler bore, and at least one of said sections comprising longitudinally separable members having interengaging portions adapted to permit relative lateral movement but preventing lateral separation.

7. A pin tumbler lock having a stationary part and a movable part, both said parts being provided with tumbler bores capable of being aligned, a pin tumbler comprising a driver section and a follower section in each of said alignable tumbler bores, and each of said sections being of a diameter to fill the tumbler bore, and at least one of said sections comprising a separable mushroom-shaped pin having a disc-shaped head of a diameter adapted to fill the tumbler bore and constituting the end of the section adapted to contact the other section, and said head being adapted to seat on the adjacent portions of its section and to be slidable laterally thereon and means to limit the extent of lateral sliding and to prevent lateral separation of said mushroomshaped pin from the adjacent portions of its section, said means comprising a shank on the pin and a bore in said adjacent portions adapted to receive said pin, said bore being of greater diameter than said shank.

8. In a pin tumbler lock a cylinder having a bore, a plug rotatably mounted in said bore, tumbler bores in said cylinder, and said plug adapted to be brought into alignment, a keyway in said cylinder, and said tumbler bores extending into said keyway, a tumbler slidable in each pair of registering tumbler bores, means positioned in each of the tumbler bores of said casing to urge the tumbler therein towards said keyway, each of said tumblers comprising a plurality of members in end to end alignment within its aligned bores, said members being arranged in two sets adapted to break from each other so as to per-. mit rotation of the cylinder within the casing when their contacting surfaces lie in the surface of the cylinder, and each set of members comprising at least one pair of members laterally displaceable a limited amount relatively to each other without tilting.

9. In a pin tumbler lock a cylinder having a bore, a plug rotatably mounted in said bore, tumbler bores in said cylinder and said plug adapted to be brought into alignment, a keyway in said cylinder, and said tumbler bores extending into said keyway, a tumbler slidable in each pair of registering tumbler bores, means positioned in each of the tumbler bores of said casing to urge the tumbler therein towards said keyway, each of said tumblers comprising a plurality of members in end to end alignment within its aligned bores, said members being arranged in two sets adapted to break from each other so as to permit rota tion of the cylinder within the casing when their contacting surfaces lie in the surface of the cylinder, and each set of members comprising at least one pair of separate members having portions of a diameter adapted to: fill the tumbler bores, and other portions adapted to permit lateral movement without tilting of said members relatively to each other and at the same time to prevent lateral separation of said members.

10. In a pin tumbler look a cylinder having a bore, a plug rotatably mounted in said bore, tumbler bores in said cylinder and said plug adapted to be brought into alignment, a keyway in said cylinder, and said tumbler bores extending into said keyway, a tumbler slidable in each pair of registering tumbler bores, means positioned in each of the tumbler bores of said casing to urge the tumbler therein towards said keyway, each of said tumblers comprising a plurality of members in end to end alignment within its aligned bores, said members being arranged in two sets adapted to break from each other so as to permit rotation of the cylinder within the casing when their contacting surfaces lie in the surface of the cylinder, and at least one of said members comprising a pair of separate members interengaging to permit lateral movement without tilting of said members relatively to each other and to prevent lateral separation thereof, and one of said members being provided with an enlarged head the outer face of which constitutes the breaking surface of the pin tumbler.

11. A safety locking pin for a cylinder lock having a body portion of a size snugly to engage therecesses of the lock, one end of said pin so fitting its recess being arranged to form the breaking point within its recess and having a portion of a reduced diameter at the opposite end, providing an offset shoulder in relation to the body portion spaced from an end to resist displacement in its tumbler recess when said pin is subjected to lateral pressure through a turning force applied to the cylinder.

12. In a pin tumbler look, a safety locking pin for the cylinder lock thereof having a body portion of a size substantially snugly engaging the recesses of the lock, one end of said pin so fitting its recess being arranged to form the breaking 7 point within its recess and having a portion of reduced diameter at the opposite end, providing an offset shoulder on the body portion to resist displacement in its tumbler recess when said pin is subjected to lateral pressure through a turning force applied to the cylinder and an overlying unit immediately to one side of the end having the reduced diameter, said unit having a body portion substantially snugly engaging the recess, said unit and pin portion being separable from each other longitudinally.

13. A pin tumbler for looks comprising: two spaced cylindrical end members; a ring shaped portion interposed in the intervening space between ends of said members totransmit endwise force from one to the other end member, said ring shaped portion having an external diameter equal to that of the end members; and a spindle carried by one end member and extending through the bore of said ring shaped portion toward the other member but terminating short of said other member, said spindle having a diameter smaller than the bore of the ring shaped portion so as to permit a degree of relative lateral displacement of the ring shaped portion and an end member.

14. In a pin tumbler lock, a casing, a cylinder rotatably mounted therein, a pin tumbler carried by the casing and biased to a position extending across the line of parting between the casing and cylinder and into an opening in the cylinder to lock the cylinder against rotation, said tumbler comprising a plurality of sets of pins made of individual members stacked one on the other so that the alignment of the junction between said members with the line of parting allows rotation of the cylinder, at least one member of one of said sets being made of separate elements, and means carried by one of the elements of said member for limiting relative lateral displacement of said elements to restrict the permitted rotation of the cylinder, said means being free from the other element constituting said member so as not to form an endwise driving connection between the members of said set con taining said member made of separate elements.

15. In a pin tumbler lock, a casing, a cylinder rotatably mounted therein, a pin tumbler carried by the casing and biased to a position extending across the line of parting between the casing and cylinder to lock the cylinder against rotation, said tumbler comprising a plurality of sets of pins of individual members stacked one on the other so that the alignment of the junction between said members with the line of parting allows rotation of the cylinder, at least one member of one of said sets being made of separate elements and means carried by one of the elements of said member for limiting relative lateral displacement of said elements to restrict the permitted rotation of the cylinder, said means comprising a spindle carried by one of the elements of said member passing through a tubularly formed portion, forming another element of said member, said spindle being free from the tubular element constituting said other portion of said member so as not to form an endwise driving connection between the members of said set containing said member made of separate elements, said element carrying saidspindle making flat contacting engagement with said element carrying the tubularly formed portion.

16. In a pin tumbler lock, a casing, a cylinder rotatably mounted thereon, a pin tumbler carried by the casing and biased to a position extending across the line of operation between the cylinder and casing into an opening in the cylinder and casing, to lock the cylinder against rotation, said tumbler comprising a plurality of sets of pins made of members stacked one on the other so that the line of juncture between said members with the line of parting allows rotation of the cylinder, and spring means normally displacing said sets of pins from such alignment, at least one member of one of said sets having a portion cooperating with another element which, in partial rotation with the sets of pins not aligned at the juncture between the cylinder and the casing, provides by displacement of said element an offset shoulder to resist displacement in a direction of operation of said spring means longitudinally in the opening in which said sets are mounted, said members of said sets being longitudinally movable in respect to said element.

LOUIS GUTMAN. 

